Miami Hot Under the Collar

I couldn't get to bed Saturday night or Sunday morning; I was still listening to the Dallas Mavericks' post-game show on KTCK-AM (1310, The Ticket) at 2 in the a.m. and briefly considered going out to Love Field, before realizing, yeah, that would be too...ah...yeah. Anway, that was easily the most emotionally draining ball game in franchise history--and I was at Game 6 of the Western Conference in 1988, when the Mavs beat the Lakers at Reunion Arena to take it back to Los Angeles for that heartbreaking Game 7 loss. And, gosh, it looks like the Mavs are favored to beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, which kick off Thursday night. Swell; hope it's true. But keep in mind that Mavs' February 9 drubbing of the Heat pretty much got Miami to the Finals in the first place; nothing inspires you like a 36-point loss, says here in The New York Times this morning. "This team woke up," Dwyane Wade tells the paper. I worry. A lot. --Robert Wilonsky